Starman

Written for No Theme Thursday: 08.22.24

Will spent a long time staring out at the prairie. The twilight glazed the field of wheat in a golden wave and the air smelled sweet as the wind blew warm in the late September evening. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a long time. It hadn’t always been this way.

Three short years ago, the drought came. The first year the rain came in spits and spurts and the crops struggled and grew withered and sparse. His family managed to coax enough food out of the ground to feed themselves, and their animals, but made barely enough money to maintain the farm, or pay the mortgage they owed on the land. They tightened their belts, and got by.

The next year was drier still. The animals started dying one by one. All the rest of the good egg-laying hens and milking cows that hadn’t died had to be slaughtered to provide enough meat before they were completely emaciated. No one wanted to see them starve to death anyway.

The second year came and went without change. The cold, dry winter that followed hardened the ground so thoroughly that it couldn’t be tilled. His pa and Will’s two older brothers, Jeb and Eli, toiled for days, hoping their efforts would eventually pay off. Even Will, who at the time was a mere nine, set his jaw in firm defiance, grabbed a shovel and worked the ground. “The rains would come and the work will be worth it,” he told himself. But to no avail. The rains didn’t come.

It was only through the grace of God that they managed to get through that year intact. They had barely enough food, and Ma rationed everything. Will was always hungry, but he didn’t complain much. When he did, his Ma would set him straight with a few words about being grateful for the life that the good Lord had given him. “Jesus went for forty days in the desert with no food or water,” she would remind him.

“It was easier for him, he was the son of God,” he would think sullenly.

He didn’t dare say anything to Pa. He’d just set him straight with a belt. Although as the year dragged on, Pa didn’t even have the energy for that. Only once when Will sneaked into the pantry one afternoon, he was so hungry he felt dizzy. He ate a whole potato. He only meant to take a nibble, but a nibble turned into a bite, and then another. Next think he knew, it was gone. He didn’t care that it was raw and dirty.

It was the one potato his ma was planning on feeding the family along with a bit of porridge that night. Although he was not allowed to eat, he had to sit at the dinner table and watch his older brothers eat their meager portions. He went back to his room once supper was over, and wept bitterly. The guilt hurt far worse than his father’s belt.

When Jeb and Eli heard there was work in the big town to the north, they packed their few belongings and set out for better fortunes. There wasn’t enough left to feed them anyway. It offered some hope, figuring they could send money home. It turned out that a lot of young men had the same idea. They went day to day, hoping for steady employment. When they were hired for the day, it was backbreaking work for very little pay.

With two less mouths to feed, rationing the food was easier, but the pantry was getting uncomfortably empty. One night, Will saddled up to his ma and put his head in her lap. He hadn’t done that since he was little. He was really tired. There had been no supper. Just a little water from the well. The only thing that fortunately had not dried up.

“Ma, there’s no food left, is there?

“Don’t you worry about it, sweetheart. The Lord will provide.“

“I don’t understand. He hasn’t provided for the last two years.” He looked up at her, “What made him stop?“

Another biblical retort was on Ma’s lips, but it died there. She tried a different tact, “It’ll be time to till the land again, and if we can get some good rains soon, we’ll be able to get the crops growing.”

She set him back on his feet and gripped his arms tightly, looking directly into his eyes. “Pray hard, son. That is all any of us can do.“

“Ok, Ma. I will. I promise.”

He wandered outside into the twilight, to the field that had been scorched hard for what seemed like forever. Remnants of old wheat stalks hissed in the wind as the sun dropped low. One by one the stars popped out in the deepening indigo sky. Will felt a sob stuck in his throat so hard, it made his chest hurt.

Suddenly a steak of light caught his eye. He gasped in surprise. He had never seen a falling star before, but he had heard of them and knew he was supposed to make a wish.

His ma wouldn’t like it. It’s witchcraft, she would say, but he no longer cared. He closed his eyes. “Please, oh please – Please God, or Starman, or whoever is listening, let there be rain! Please, I don’t want my family to die.“

He felt a single tear drip down his face. It was swallowed up immediately by the hungry ground. When he opened his eyes, the sun was mostly hidden behind the  horizon. He took a deep breath, and paused.

Was that… could it be? The air almost smelled like… water. Just a hint. It must be my imagination, thought Will.

He peered out into the distance. Darkness was closing in, but what was that piling up, far on the horizon? Was that a flash of lightning? He felt another tear trickle down his face, or was it? He wiped it with his hand and examined this strange illusive substance. Looking up again, he now felt the wind shift and grow cooler. It echoed the shiver that ran up his spine. He made an effort to tamp down his hopeful excitement, and walked slowly back to the house. It was the calmest he had felt in a long time.

Later that night, ma checked on him. The squeaky hinge on the door always gave her away.

“Ma?“

“Goodness! I thought you were asleep! Get some shuteye!“

“I’m ok, I was just praying. Really hard, like you said.“

“You’re a good boy.” She tousled his sandy hair. “Get some sleep.“

Sometime later, Will drifted off as the sound of rain tapped his bedroom window.

---

It seemed so long ago now. Jeb and Eli (with a new wife and baby on the way) were back. The land teemed again with life, but they still struggled with their mortgage. The Bankman came by once a month to threaten to take back their land if they didn’t pay. Pa would mollify him with whatever little bit he could give, and ask for a little more time. It made part of Will indignant, but he also realized that everyone has to make a living, and they were not the only ones who suffered.

Scars remained, but Will made a point to go out to that spot whenever he could to pay gratitude to whatever it was that helped them. He watched again as a single star shot across the sky.

“Please God, or Starman or whoever is listening, someone out there is in desperate need. Please help them.“